9.16.2014

End of 2014 Reading List

I have been slacking on my reading this year. I recently got the app, My Book Tracker, to obviously, keep track of the books I'm reading and it's kind of depressing me with the low amount of books I've gone through in 2014. So I'm making this list to keep myself on track, let you guys know what my reading plans are, and hopefully we can discuss some of these if any of you have read them! I'm pretty excited for this list and am going to do my best to stick to it.


The first two are from the library, which is why I'm reading them first. And most of the descriptions below are from Amazon. 

An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world’s attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation. Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash.

Brianna Karp entered the workforce at age ten, supporting her mother and sister throughout her teen years in Southern California. Although her young life was scarred by violence and abuse, Karp stayed focused on her dream of a steady job and a home of her own. By age twenty-two her dream became reality. Karp loved her job as an executive assistant and signed the lease on a tiny cottage near the beach. And then the Great Recession hit. Karp, like millions of others, lost her job. In the six months between the day she was laid off and the day she was forced out onto the street, Karp scrambled for temp work and filed hundreds of job applications, only to find all doors closed. When she inherited a thirty-foot travel trailer after her father's suicide, Karp parked it in a Walmart parking lot and began to blog about her search for work and a way back.

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man - also named Jonathan Safran Foer - sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

A copy of the prayer journal written by one of my favorite authors!? Hello. I'm all about writing down prayers and have a prayer journal of my own, but as I skimmed the pages of Flannery's I realized that she is a true writer. Wow. I cannot wait to read through this because of her elegant writing.

“A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.” —Zadie Smith

Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances. 

I bought this while I was in grad school, so I'm long overdo for reading it. This poetic and compelling masterpiece is a heartbreaking look at a marriage and the way we now live. Full of shocks and aftershocks, By Nightfall is a novel about the uses and meaning of beauty, and the place of love in our lives.

I got this for Christmas last year, so I figured that a year on my shelf is too long for this story. I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons. I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.


Have you read any of these books? What's on your end of the year reading list?

8 comments:

  1. I haven't read in forever, this post makes me what too!

    God bless,

    XO, Claire

    Http://www.littlemissfashionqueen.blogspot.com

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  2. I get into phases with reading. I used to read a ton but now I'm lucky if I read a few a year! The Girls Guide to Homelessness is an amazing book. Such a crazy journey she goes on. I hope you get to finish your stack!

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  3. I went through an awesome reading phase in August and now I'm slacking! I really like the book I'm reading, but I have to force myself to read because I'd rather be lazy and watch Netflix lol! I think it always helps making a list of the books I want to read!
    ~Sara

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  4. Yes lists always help lol but I know what you mean - sometimes I come home from work and just want to mindlessly watch TV too.

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  5. "Everything is Illuminated" and "I Am Malala" have been on my kindle for SO long but I haven't gotten to them yet! I love Foer's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."

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  6. I'm really excited to read both of them and yes, Extremely Loud is SO GOOD.

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